In February 1992, the Irish High
Court placed an injunction on a 14-year-old rape victim, preventing her from
travelling to Britain for an abortion. In March, the injunction was
dramatically overturned when the Supreme Court ruled that the girl (a minor)
could seek an abortion abroad and, further that abortion could be lawful in Ireland
in certain limited circumstances. The 'X case' led to an intense and divisive
debate on abortion which continues to reverberate in Ireland today.

In these essays, all written in the
aftermath of the 'X case', Irish feminist scholars and activists explore the
politics of abortion in Ireland in the light of long struggle for reproductive
rights in Ireland.